My Heart Is Yours
by dqmwartist
Summary: After a quarrel Michaela and Sully part ways, each reflecting on how far they've come in their relationship.


Authors Note: The Battle of Washita actually occurred in 1868, while the show placed it in the year 1870. My story is set in 1870 with the battle having already occurred.

My Heart is Yours

Sully leaned his hand against the window as his gaze drifted down. He hadn't meant to start a fight with his fiancée. She could be stubborn and obstinate at times, but deep down he loved her with all his heart. His offering to Matthew was meant to be a gesture of love, not a wedge into their upcoming marriage. They had been through so much in the past months he asked the spirits to get them through this as well.

Ever since the Battle of Washita, things had never been the same. Seeing their friends taken down by the violence of one man and a village burnt to the ground had shaken them to their very core. All Black Kettle had wanted was peace for his people, not to be mascaraed. Sully would never forget the day they found the camp, a dying Snowbird and the baby he held saved by a young boy. Those memories would be forever etched in his mind.

Sully put down the can of polishing wax and the rag he'd been using on the floor. He was pleased with how beautiful the bed looked and how the house was starting to feel like home. Only his fight with Michaela was still tugging on his heartstrings.

Making his way out of the homestead he found his horse, jumped on him and rode off. He usually liked to be alone after a fight but he was changing inside, realizing how important life was and how short it could be. As he rode letting the breeze send his hair flying behind him, he thought of the race Michaela got in her head to participate in. He thought she was crazy but like her horse Flash, there was no stopping them. She rode like the wind that day, making them all proud while his heart began to swell with love for her.

Sully was so lost in his thoughts that neither he nor his horse saw the large rock in their path. His horse skidded to a stop so fast that Sully didn't have a chance to react before he went flying into the air.

Michaela rode hard and fast, her hair flying behind her as the distance grew between her and Sully. They were so different that there were times when she worried they wouldn't fit together well at all. Then there were times when they fit together so perfectly nothing else in the world mattered. She hated fighting with him, even if standing up for what she believed in caused trouble.

Early on in their courtship they had differing opinions on things, she wanted to talk, and he wanted to touch. Their worlds were different, he lived in the woods, and she came from society. She hadn't been comfortable with touching and sometimes it seemed that's all he wanted to do.

"_I thought it was courtin' and sparkin'," he told her out in the middle of the woods, just before planting a kiss on her lips that sent sensations all over her body. _

Later on they'd had a terrible argument which left both of them stirring for days. That is until she couldn't take it anymore. She loved him too much to stop courting now and that their love for each other was stronger than any differences they might have. Regardless of a map she wanted to navigate the uncharted waters with him by her side.

Slowing Flash down for a moment, she remembered Sully's words to her, "my heart is yours now"; causing a flush to color her cheeks. He held her close in that moment as if she might break, as they lay there on an old quilt. Nothing else mattered just so long as Sully was by her side.

Sully wasn't sure how long he'd been out, only that his head was throbbing something fierce. He tried to open his eyes but everything was a blur. Covering them he tried to relax but the pain was too much. Pain like this hadn't hit him before, not since he'd suffered a migraine. Only he wasn't sure this was just a headache. He tried rolling over and made to get up, but his vision blurred even more sending him right back down to the ground again. All he could do was lay there until his head stopped pounding enough that he could move.

Sully soon fell into a deep sleep, this time filled with dreams. He could see Michaela in Boston sitting across from him at dinner looking as beautiful as ever. The train car he was in when she'd confronted him and forced his true feelings out. Her face just before she took off running to land in his arms whispering the words he never thought he'd hear. And the way she cared for him during his illness never leaving his side even for a second.

.

There was no one he would rather be with than Michaela. She filled him with feelings he could never put into words. He had wanted to fight them off but over time he cared too much to leave; then he fell deeply in love with her. All those plans washed away in an instant as his future turned to his heart song and three loving children.

Michaela felt a strange sensation come over her the moment Sully's words quit their echo. Something was wrong, what she didn't know as she turned Flash around. A moment later she could hear Sully call her name as if he was standing right there next to her. "Sully," she screamed out into the calm air before letting Flash have her way.

Flash seemed to sense what was wrong and the distress she sensed only urged her to run faster. Michaela held on tight as Flash made for the woods, sailing over rocks and roots so as not to injure her rider. The two had been kindred spirits since the beginning. Now she relied on her companion more than ever to take her to Sully.

Michaela's breath caught in her throat just as Flash bolted out of the woods into a large meadow. She spotted Sully's horse with his Indian feather standing calmly while occasionally nibbling at the grass below. "Sully," she called out in a whisper as tears welled up inside and threatened to fall down her face. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening, not after the quarrel they'd had.

It was all Michaela could do as she urged Flash forward praying with each step that Sully wasn't badly hurt, or worse. Flash obeyed without complaint and took her straight to the injured Sully, laying there on the ground.

Michaela slid off Flash and fell to the ground, taking Sully's head in her lap. She felt around for a pulse, something that would tell her he was still alive. "Please don't leave me," she whispered. "I can't bear to live without you."

Michaela gently stroked his hair looking for signs of injury all the while trying to hold back her tears. Her emotions were getting the better of her when she needed them to be calm and steady. Gently as she could she got up, grabbed her medical bag and sat right back down again. With extra care she cleaned and bandaged the wound on his temple praying with all her being that he would live.

"I'm so sorry we fought," Michaela whispered through her tears now falling freely down her face. "You were right with the best of intentions for Matthew and I didn't see it. Please forgive me."

Sully could feel Michaela's warmth around him even before he opened his eyes. Somehow she had found him with guidance from the spirits. He smiled inside at how gentle she had been with her touches. It pained him to feel wet tears on his face as she worked. She was a force of nature filled with emotion.

"I forgive you," he answered starring up into her tear stained mismatched eyes. Michaela smiled down at him, wiping tears from her eyes. "Don't worry either, I'll never leave you. My heart belongs to you."

"My heart is yours too," Michaela whispered down in reply as she lay a gentle kiss on his forehead. There was truly no place she would rather be nor any man other than Sully whom she would have her heart belong to.

© 2013 by dqmwartist


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